Do You Worry About Restaurants That Claim Gluten Free Meals ? M)

[carecare]

We had a busy day and I decided to take my son to his first restaurant since going gluten free at the end of July. We went to Happy Joes where they make a gluten free pizza. It was actually really good. Unfortunately, I was the one who got sick that night...and spent the evening in the bathroom. Two days later my son had some mouth sores but he also ate the rice crispies that were not labeled gluten free. I thought I had gotten rid of all the gluten foods in the house. The one and only item I forgot to give away was the rice crispies. I did have a box of the ones labeled gluten free but for some reason I neglected to rid the house of the regular rice crispies. That evening he had a couple mouth sores.

Now I am not sure his sores came from the cereal or the pizza place 2 days prior. I am going to call and ask the pizza place what precautions they take in order to make the gluten free claim. I can imagine the chance of cross contamination is very high in a pizza place that deals with regular flour.

CC

[Hawthorn]

I worry, enough that I've never eaten/drank out since realising the gluten problem. That said, I am stupidly sensitive. The food may be gluten free, but are the hands that are touching stuff. That would pose a problem to me sadly, since I loved eating out.

[love2travel]

Although I do not eat out often, when I do I ALWAYS call in advance to speak to the chef about my needs. If I am not satisifed with the answers I do not eat there. I do not think I would ever feel safe eating at a fast food place or chain, though, as they do not have chefs. The higher-end places use far less flour, etc. because sauces are reduced rather than thickened with flour. But since you have kids these places are not as feasible. Going to a place where pizza (even gluten-free pizza) is served would not work for me just because the likelihood of CC is much higher. I made that mistake just once - friends begged me to go to Boston Pizza for gluten-free pizza. Normally I do not even like BP but that was when I was newly diagnosed, desperate and new to CC so foolishly I went. Well, I discovered later that they used the same pans and prep area they used for regular pizza. I did not get sick (I never did get sick from eating gluten) but the end result would be the same to my poor little villi.

[StephanieL]

We have a pretty extensive list of actual food allergies on top of Celiac. My DS (who is 4) has never eaten out. Ever. I am not sure I will ever feel comfortable with it.

[GlutenFreeManna]

Now I am not sure his sores came from the cereal or the pizza place 2 days prior. I am going to call and ask the pizza place what precautions they take in order to make the gluten free claim. I can imagine the chance of cross contamination is very high in a pizza place that deals with regular flour.

CC

When I eat out I try to ask those questions before hand. There is no question that your son got glutened from the non-gluten-free Rice Krispies. Whether he also got it from the restaurant is hard to guess. It's possible though. Good gluten-free pizza places will use premade crust, prep the crust in a differnt room from where the regular crusts are made, have ingredients set aside that are used only to top the gluten-free pizza and bake on foil or dedicated pans. If their answers to your questions are reassuring then I would give them another chance. But do ask all those same questions you put in email AGAIN in the restaurant so that your server is more aware that they need to be extra careful.

[Ellers]

I'm very wary. A lot of places have no idea about cross-contamination so while the actual ingredients might be gluten-free, the prep area or utensils might not be.

[srall]

I agree about eating at a pizza place. Before my daughter went gluten free I took her to a pizza place and I just ordered a salad. (I was gluten free then). My lymph nodes were so swollen after that and I could tell I was glutened.

I really only eat out when I travel, or on a date with my husband. We have safe restaurants that we stick to. Our new fast food restaurant on the road is Outback (hence...$$$$ never eating out except when we have to for that reason too)

I also agree with L2T's approach about calling the restaurant ahead of time and feeling like you are heard before you go. Plus, it's just hard now for me to trust people who don't really understand what it means to be gluten free, and that we are not just some part of a fad diet.

[maximoo]

Chilis has a gluten-free menu & i've taken my celiac kids there quite a few times . However my kids do not have gastro symptoms so if they were cc'd I wld never know it. When they go for a blood test in Nov. I 'll see how well we are doing trying to live gluten-free. We haven't been to a gluten-free pizza place yet. Chcik Fila grilled chkn breast & waffle fries are pretty safe as is Pollo tropical grilled chicken/rice. However I know c c can exist anywhere I'm sure gastro sensitive ppl are as vigilent as possible.